*Ahalteke horses, often called "royal horses", boast centuries-old history. Ancient historians and poets wrote about matchless beauty of the Central Asian horses, known as Nissei's horses, starting from VII-VI centuries BC. According to the hypothesis, this name derives from the ancient Parthian capital, Nissa. Afterwards, they were better known as Ahalteke horses. Ahal stood for the name of the oasis and Teke was the name of a Turkmen tribe which had long bred these horses. The state emblem of Turkmenistan carries the profile of the beautiful Ahalteke horse, Yanardag, the 1999 world breed champion.